Australia, which holds 40 per cent of the world's known uranium reserves, expects soon to start negotiations to sell radioactive ore to the UAE to provide fuel for the nuclear power programme.
The Australian foreign minister, Kevin Rudd, announced while visiting Abu Dhabi yesterday that the country intended to work towards a bilateral uranium trade agreement with the Emirates.
Such an agreement would open channels for the UAE to purchase and import fuel for its first nuclear reactors, which are slated to be in service by 2017. The US$20 billion (Dh73.45bn) nuclear power project, headed by the government-owned Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec), would be the Arab world's first civilian atomic energy development. The programme has been hailed as a model of transparency and engagement with international efforts to limit nuclear arms proliferation and promote nuclear safety and security.
"Australia welcomes the UAE's efforts to establish a responsible approach to nuclear power generation and hopes that it will serve as a model for other countries in the Middle East," Mr Rudd said.
Talks between the two countries will focus on nuclear safeguards and details of the proposed use of nuclear fuel in the UAE programme, which aims to broaden the Gulf oil exporter's sources of energy for domestic consumption while reducing carbon emissions from its power sector.
"A bilateral safeguards agreement with Australia is a further strict non-proliferation condition that Australia requires for supplying uranium," Mr Rudd said.
The UAE, which hosts the Middle East headquarters of the Australian military, is a signatory to the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has also signed the "additional protocol" of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on nuclear safeguards. The UAE has held a seat on the IAEA's board since last year, reflecting the country's commitment to being a role model for other developing nations seeking nuclear power.
Australia, which has 22 nuclear safeguards agreements with 39 nations and the island of Taiwan, is the third-largest producer of uranium ore, behind Kazakhstan and Canada. One of its largest uranium customers is China, which is expected to build 110 of the 150 new reactors planned worldwide by 2030.
Mr Rudd's statement yesterday did not make clear whether Australia would propose to process its ore into nuclear fuel for the Emirates, or whether that would be done by a third country. The UAE has agreed to import "low enriched" uranium fuel from other qualified nations instead of processing ore itself. It has also agreed not to reprocess spent nuclear fuel.
The UAE has signed bilateral agreements on peaceful nuclear co-operation with a number of countries including the US, UK, France, Japan and South Korea.
At Braka, on a remote stretch of the Gulf coast in the far west of Abu Dhabi, Enec is preparing a site for the UAE's first four nuclear reactors, to be built by a South Korean development consortium. Construction of the reactors awaits approval by the Emirates' Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, an independent body recently established in the UAE. Although approval is widely expected, it is not a foregone conclusion and could be subject to stringent conditions.
"The UAE is setting up as rigorous a regulatory authority as exists anywhere," Lady Barbara Judge, a member of the UK Nuclear Development Forum and an adviser to the UAE energy programme, said on Monday while visiting Abu Dhabi.
Australia, which conducted more than $4.2bn of bilateral trade with the UAE in the past two years, is seeking to expand its uranium exports. In another controversial development, its ruling Labor Party has suggested scrapping an existing ban on exports to countries that have not signed the non-proliferation treaty, allowing India to become a customer.
"If we were to go down the track of opening up sales of uranium to India, there would be an even tougher process of negotiations" on nuclear safeguards, Martin Ferguson, the Australian resources minister, told Reuters yesterday.
Uranium prices have recently surged on the back of increasing Chinese demand and renewed interest from investors and hedge funds.
Australia produced nearly 8 million tonnes of uranium in 2009, 16 per cent of global supplies, according to the latest figures available from the World Nuclear Association. The country's output nevertheless declined by 6 per cent from the previous year, while worldwide uranium output rose 15 per cent.
tcarlisle@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2018 Renault Koleos
Price, base: From Dh77,900
Engine: 2.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 170hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 233Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.3L / 100km
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